Jul 10 2009
Buying a New Machine? Want to know what it all means?
In this new day and age it seems that more people are heading to the stores looking for a new computer with no Idea as to what they want or what they can get for the money. So if you consider yourself computer illiterate or you just want to know a bit more information before you buy this is the article for you. I will cover the importance of every individual aspect and how it pertains to you and what you should look for when buying a reliable system. I have been building computers for nearly 10 years and I possess a unique knowledge of system configurations.
Well let’s see…. Where to be begin? Before you go computer shopping, whether is online or to a store like best buy or Costco, it is helpful to know what you want to do with your computer. Most people always tell me that they just want to get on the internet, access their e-mail and watch some videos on YouTube. The reality is that this is not really the case for most people, generally after a bit of talking I discover that they want to be able to do other things with their machine. Because if the first was true you might as well keep your old computer and put a basic Linux operating system on it. Then I often get the question what else is there to do? Well anything, if you like taking and editing photos a computer can be customized for that, or if you like making movies or playing games a system can be made for that. You want to get a machine that can cover your interests so that 6 months down the line when you try something new your computer doesn’t fail. So take a moment and think about what you want.
Alright now that we have gotten that out of the way let’s talk about brands, most computer companies like Dell or Hp basically buy wholesale parts from companies like Segate, who makes Hard Drives, and then they assemble them and send out the package. So there is something to understand here, the less you spend on a computer its more likely that you will receive cheap parts, because not all parts are created equal. Dell is not likely to put RAM that costs $200 in a computer that is going to be sold for 400. So take caution when you go shopping, I generally build desktops myself for people to assure that they get quality parts. However regardless the point is that you should not go in expecting that a $400 system will be a great performer, within 1-2 years that computer will be obsolete.
Alright let’s get down to the specs. The first thing that you always look at when you see a computer is the Processor and its speed. Well there are a lot of things that make a processor fast and the GHZ (gigahertz) value is not always it. To start from the basics there are two companies that make processors AMD and Intel neither is “better” than the other, they are just different. I prefer AMD systems because I generally find the parts that go with them to be in good order for building. However, you are more likely to see Intel chips in anything you buy because Intel holds a bit of a monopoly in the market. However the important thing is to look at a few things. First off how many cores it has, Now you can get a quad core processor rather cheap from AMD so I would advise looking for a quad core system over any duel core system. Then take a look at the model number on the processor (ie: Phenom II X4 810). There are many generations of quad core processors and you want to make sure you get the newest ones. So either check online on the most current model numbers or ask the representative at the store, just keep in mind that people who work in a store don’t always have the best knowledge. After you verify the generation look at the speed, anything above 2.2ghz and a quad core will do fine for most applications, but if you want more gaming performance, video editing, or photo processing, get one with more speed.
The next step is to take a look at the RAM. RAM stands for Random Access Memory, and is very important to a system. What happens is that data travels from your hard drive and then is temporarily stored in your RAM. Then it is computed by the processor from there. The reason is because a Hard Drive is a “slow” device in a computer. Its max output speed may be up to 200mbps, but ram can transfer data at up to 20gbps which is an order of 1000 times faster. So it is important to have a lot of cache for the system, that way you can run multiple demanding applications at once. Next is to check the speed. Just like with Processors there are multiple generations of RAM and speeds of RAM. Most high performance systems run on DDR3 1600 or faster. So if you see a system in a store running DDR2, no matter how much ram it comes with don’t get it, DDR2 is old and slow, it also means that you will have an old motherboard in the system which will give you poor performance and system life. Ram is important, splurge on it and you will be greatly rewarded.
Well I mentioned the Motherboard so let’s talk about that. When you buy a system you really won’t have a choice in this matter nor will you ever know what motherboard is in your system unless you really take the time to find out. But there are some clues that will tell you about the motherboard. For example if it takes DDR3 instead of DDR2 it’s of newer design. Also if it supports a new generation processor it will be of newer design. Also check to see if it has onboard video, that means that when you plug the monitor in does it go into the motherboard near the ports on the back or is there a separate card. High Performance motherboards will not have integrated graphics, but if you are given the chance pop the side cover off and look on the board for the brand name and model number, every manufacture stamps one on there, so do some research. Not all motherboards are created equal, so that $400 machine is most likely going to have some no name brand piece of junk motherboard. Why is this important? Well your motherboard controls everything, it routs the data all over the computer, if you have a bad motherboard but fast components it won’t matter, you need the whole package to be fast.
The next step is Graphics Cards. Every system has to have a graphics or video card to display the output from the computer (graphics and video cards are the same thing, just different names). But why does it matter? Well a graphics card is a board that plugs into the motherboard or is built on the motherboard and it contains its own Motherboard, Ram and Processor, so that means there is more than one type of processor in the computer. The processor on the graphics card is dedicated to performing only image based tasks. This means that your CPU (main processor) doesn’t get bogged down by the graphics work load. Also a better graphics card means that your computer will have smoother video playback and game play. There are two main companies that produce graphics cards: ATI and Nvidia. Once again there is no reason to argue about who is better but take a look at the graphics card in the system and do some research. Once again think about why you need the computer to determine your need for a card.
The last important bit to talk about is Hard Drives. When buying a premade computer it is hard to find out all of the specs on the hard drive. But so long as it’s a SATA drive and has a spindle speed of at least 7200 rpm you should be good. Once again not all hard drives are created equal but you should be alright when it comes to this. As for how much space you need… well that’s up to you and your needs. People who like watching and storing movies should get more, and data is really cheap. You can get well over 500gb in your computer for next to nothing and the average person is not likely to fill that up soon. To give you an idea 100,000 songs fit on the biggest iPod about 160gb. A photo from a 10mp digital camera is about 3 mb or 3/1000 of a gb. So have fun.
Everything else after that is just optional accessories, monitors, sound cards, and blu-ray drives are all potential add-ons for your system. It’s up to you to figure out what you want to do with your computer and then piece together the last bit of parts. But so long as you understand what I said above you will have a pleasant buying experience and who knows, you might end up knowing more than the people in the store.
